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Dangers of teen drinking essay
Dangers of teen drinking essay
The dangers of underaged drinking
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Drinking Amongst Minors Imagine you are a twenty-year-old waiting for your next birthday to turn the magic number of twenty-one. Turning twenty-one is the turning point in most people’s lives and suddenly everything changes. This specific birthday is one of the most celebrated birthdays across America, for the reason being, you are officially allowed to take that first sip of alcohol and not have the fear, burning inside your stomach, of being busted at some weekend high school/college party. Picture this, it’s the night of your birthday and all of your friends have planned for you to go out to clubs and experience the time of your life, bartenders keep handing you drinks and you being the slightly immature new adult, keep taking them,
According to Center for Disease Control and Protection, about 4,700 people under age twenty one die from injuries involving underage drinking every year. Illegal alcohol consumption has been a major problem with high school students around the nation. Lowering the drinking age from twenty one would result in major consequences for America’s adolescents. By lowering the drinking age, alcohol would be more accessible to those who choose to participate in underage drinking. The desire to drink for teens and young adults between the ages of fourteen and twenty can be caused by peer pressure or an act of rebellion. One beer might not seem like a big deal at the time, but it could lead to a life of addiction and alcoholism.
According to Andrew Herman, “Each year, 14,000 die from drinking too much. 600,000 are victims of alcohol related physical assault and 17,000 are a result of drunken driving deaths, many being innocent bystanders” (470). These massive numbers bring about an important realization: alcohol is a huge issue in America today. Although the problem is evident in Americans of all ages, the biggest issue is present in young adults and teens. In fact, teens begin to feel the effects of alcohol twice as fast as adults and are more likely to participate in “binge-drinking” (Sullivan 473). The problem is evident, but the solution may be simple. Although opponents argue lowering the drinking age could make alcohol available to some teens not mature enough to handle it, lowering the drinking age actually teaches responsibility and safety in young adults, maintains consistency in age laws, and diminishes temptation.
There has been an ongoing controversy in the United States on whether the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen like most of the world or if it should stay at twenty-one. Underage drinking has been a major controversial issue for years, yet why is it not under control? Teenagers are continuing to buy alcohol with fake identification cards, drink, get into bars, and drink illegally. As a teen I have proof that these things are going on not only in college but in high school as well. There are a lot of factors that come together to why the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen; the most obvious reason is too many people are drinking before they are twenty-one. Liquor stores, bars, and clubs all want to make money and if they can get away with selling to underage teens then they will. A study done by the Academic Search Premier agrees that, ?By now it is obvious that the law has not succeeded in preventing the under-21 group from drinking? (Michael Smith 1).
I’m here to persuade you in supporting a lower legal drinking age to age 18 because 1. It would eliminate temptation of breaking law (to drink) 2. Reduce unsafe drinking activities (Binge drinking) 3. It should correspond to the age of adulthood
I believe that alcohol taxes should be raised in order to reduce the frequency of alcohol abuse. A sharp increase in taxes has been shown to decrease the number of alcohol abusers. Instituting these tax increases could save thousands of lives and billions of dollars annually.
Imagine America today where alcohol is banned. People would think that this would help control order in America but banning alcohol would not be the best idea. Alcohol were those kinds of beverages that was used for centuries but is widely accepted by most people today. Most people would even want to try drinking alcohol in their lifetime. However, alcohol is one of the main social issues in America, being the cause of accidents, health deterioration, and crimes. There are people who are in favor of liquor, but there are others who are against the idea of alcohol. This brings us to the roaring twenties where the eighteenth amendment was in effect. The eighteenth amendment of the constitution, also known as “The Noble Experiment”, was an establishment of prohibiting the production, sale, and transportation of alcohol in the United States. The purpose of this amendment was to reduce the crimes and violence that involved the consumption of alcohol. The purpose was to also improve health and to prevent people from poverty. Thus began the Prohibition era. The amendment was a law that backfired in gaining control within America. Once the prohibition era started, it changed everything. There was organized crimes and corruption in the United States, the economy went bad, saloons were closed, leaving most owners in poverty, and violence had increased since mobsters smuggled and fought each other for the marketing of alcohol. The twenty first amendment which repealed the eighteenth amendment, thus making alcohol legal again. The prohibition era failed to control alcohol consumption because of the increase in organized crimes and that the government spent billions of dollars trying to prevent drinking in the United States .
Even though the legal age to start drinking in the United States is twenty-one, most teenagers tend to start drinking beforehand. These teenagers drink more heavily than adults do; therefore, developmental issues tend to be a factor that may affect a teenager’s system if they drink throughout their life span. Although teenagers are aware that drunk driving can be fatal and can cause permanent damage, they get behind the wheel under the influence of alcohol. Underage alcohol use is often associated with violence, suicide, educational failure, among other problematic behaviors among teens. Furthering the designated drinking age to twenty-five as the legal age to purchase and consume alcohol would reduce the number of highway fatalities.
If you're like me you'll want only the best natural hangover cures and remedies. A remedy that involves hangover medicine isn't natural after all. Our ancestors' bodies were accustomed to natural plants and herbs to cure hangovers, so that's what we want to give ourselves.
Underage drinking is a serious concern on a national and state level. It can have serious health, safety, and economic consequences. Therefore, the legal drinking age should remain at 21. While most people would consider alcohol to be a normal part of teen life, they are not realizing the damaging effects on society that alcohol can have. What one must look at are the myths and realities about underage alcohol abuse.
The legal drinking age has been a long debated topic for America; who should be allowed to drink? The drinking age has varied from state to state over the years, and the effects of the varying ages have been studied in depth. Examining the problem politically throughout our nation’s history has led to the conclusion that the legal drinking age should be the state’s decision.
In my hometown of Wayne County there isn’t much to do during the weekends, unless you travel to Somerset, which is up the road about twenty to thirty minutes, to go watch a movie or go the mall to go shopping. Teens my age look for things to do to have fun on the weekend and their thing is usually going to parties and drinking underage. At the time when they are actually doing it and having fun they think nothing about it and that it is just something normal they are doing to have some fun. Little do they know what some of the consequences may be to their decision they are making especially in the long run. “Alcohol abuse is linked to as many as two-thirds of all sexual assaults and date rapes of teens and college students.” (Wootton) So my problem for this essay is simply underage drinking.
Young people grow up seeing their parents and other adults make toast of wine and champagne at special occasions, as well as casually enjoying a few beers at a picnic. Today alcoholic beverages are frequently as common at business lunches as they are at college frat parties. Underage drinking is a huge problem which everyone must face. Underage drinking not only has devastating effects on those who drink but also on our society. "Young people illegally consume almost 3.6 billion drinks annually which is 10 million drinks each day."
This paper should in full give a complete look on alcohol: what it is, what it does, why people drink, and why they need to stop. A quick google search easily proves that alcohol does by far more bad than good, especially in mass quantities. So, why is it even legal? That however, is beside the point because as adults we have the ability to choose what we do with our bodies. Even though alcohol is capable of doing serious damage to your body and potentilally even killing you, there are those who continue to irresponsibly drink. Why?
UNDERAGE ALCHOL CONSUMPTION Alcoholism is a broad term used for the damages caused by alcohol (Tracy, Sarah 31-52). Alcoholism in United States of America is consumption by adults under the age of 21 all over the country. Though the age is similar to this in all countries but the conditions vary. In some countries it is completely banned, while others have conditions in consuming it. Underage drinking has become very common especially it has become common in a sense that the minors and adults like to take in closed doors.
If you are seventeen or older but under the age of twenty-one and you are caught drinking alcohol, the average fine is around $2,000. Adolescent drinking has lead to many serious injuries to include mental and physical disabilities. Usually about five thousand people below the age of twenty-one die in a year from alcohol related injuries that involve underage drinking. Also, another major issue with teen drinking is most kids who drink are more likely to be a victim of physical or even sexual assault. When teens consume alcohol, it kills many of the brain cells, which will lead to academic failure in school. Most brain cells will grow back although, if the consumption of alcohol continues at this early of an age, they will reduce to almost